Hello, Bachido!
I’ve been lurking around this page for a while, but since I didn’t have a shamisen, I never bothered being active with the community. Fortunately, that changed just recently!
I’ve always loved Japanese culture, and the shamisen has been a favorite instrument of mine for a number of years now. Sadly, they tend to be very expensive and difficult to get (especially futozao shamisen).
Recently, however, I stumbled across a hosozao shamisen on eBay for 450 smackaroos, and despite being used, it seemed to be in fairly good condition. Naturally, I leapt after the opportunity since I had the money, and now I’m the proud owner of this beauty:
According to the previous owner, it’s an intermediate level shamisen. The sao is made of shitan and is of a mitsuori design, and the dou has been skinned with inu. Included with the shamisen was a bunch of nifty accessories to help me get started, included extra koma and ito.
Now I just need to learn to play it. 
